Cardinal Pell called some of this year's Blake Prize finalists 'anti-religious' and reflecting 'confusion about what is
religious or spiritual'. Religious experience is not confined within the walls of holy buildings. This year's Blake Prize winner attests to this.

Members of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel are remarkably sanguine about the
future. Within their lifetimes, they expect peace to reign after
implementation of the two state solution.

One striking feature of our society is the contrast between an emphasis on tolerance, and an increasingly
punitive approach to lawbreaking. Shock jock Kyle Sandilands and violent youths in our cities have been exposed to this.

Attempts by the Chinese Government to stop a documentary about Uighur activist and leader Rebiya Kadeer from screening in Melbourne remind us that China is a vast country governed by very different values to our own.

For those who value serious content over sensationalism and glitz, who
want media meat rather than fairy floss and cake, the 'slow TV' movement is a welcome part
of the new media explosion on the internet.

The call by law professor Loane Skene for women to sell their eggs for embryonic stem cell research
ignores medical evidence of the health risks, and international evidence that the
legalisation of the sale of eggs leads to exploitation of women.

A few weeks ago Tim Winton's Breath was awarded this year's Miles Franklin Literary Award. This video trailer is a poetic combination of strong images, haunting music, quotes, and eloquent interview with the author.